It was late, very late.

Mezzo Piano the Pianist, Rarity the fashionista and Sunset Shimmer the reformed she-demon were on a bus in the dead of night, returning from Manehattan. The three young adults were beyond exhausted, Rarity was asleep on one of the seats, but Mezzo and Sunset were still up (somehow).

They were sat next to each other, Sunset listening to Music, and Mezzo browsing on his phone, noticing how dead society is at quarter past 2 in the morning. Mezzo looked at Sunset and realised how beautiful she was, even if she was groggy as fuck and was, like I said, a reformed she-demon.

‘So are you feeling any better?’ Mezzo said to his crush. Sunset looked up but hardly moved. She was too tired to speak, so she just shook her head in reply.

‘Oh, well…’ Mezzo felt disheartened that she was upset. ‘I think we can do it yenno.’

‘Hah, don’t be so hopeful,’ Sunset opened her mouth at last. ‘As much as I appreciate the support, Piano Man, I highly doubt we can raise so much money in so little time.’

‘You never know, Sunset. I mean it’s not the most impossible thing to happen in this situation.’

‘I just hope that we can raise enough money at that concert we’re doing in a few days.’

‘Yeahhhh, same.’ Mezzo’s eyes began to flutter, and he wasn’t sure if that’s because he was looking at Sunset or because it was well and truly past his bedtime.

‘Canterlot, end of the line!’ The Bus Driver yelled down the bus isle to the only three passengers on it. Rarity woke up in a daze, so she fixed herself up and got off as fast as she could, Sunset and Mezzo following close behind.

‘Gosh, I didn’t realise how much I had slept.’ Rarity muttered.

‘At least you slept,’ Mezzo chuckled. ‘I could use with some shuteye.’

‘So do I, kiddo,’ Sunset agreed. ‘I best be scooting off. I’ll see you both in like 6 hours.’

All three of them chuckled. Rarity gave sunset a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

‘Au Revoir, Dear.’ She said afterwards.

Sunset Shimmer then gave Mezzo a tight hug. It made the pianist think more feelings than he could imagine.

‘G-g-g-goodbye, Sunset.’

‘Goodbye, stammer-pants!’ Sunset gave a good laugh to herself and walked off whistling.

‘Erm… Mezzo?’ Rarity said as they were walking back to her house.

‘Yeah?’ He replied in a soft demeanour.

‘Do you like Sunset Shimmer?’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘Well, no offense, but you’ve been, how do I put this…?’ The pale lady looked down. ‘…you’re showing yourself off a little.’

Mezzo cursed out loud and covered his crotch. He felt radically embarrassed.

‘Sorry, Rarity.’

‘No no no, it’s quite alright. So I’m guessing you do?’ She said in an upset tone.

Mezzo sighed. ‘Yeah I do. Don’t tell her.’

‘I won’t.’ Rarity looked away from Mezzo.

‘I’m really sorry, I feel awful.’

‘Listen, if this is because of what happened the other night. I don’t want any of it!’ Rarity’s voice begins to creep up more and more as the conversation continued.

‘Well, it is. I didn’t want to tell you…’

‘What? So then you couldn’t hurt my feelings? I don’t want you to block me out!’

‘How am I blocking you out?’

‘Ugh. I am not starting this now, it’s too late.’

The two of them walked in silence, Mezzo still covering up his manhood.

As they got in Rarity walked into her room and didn’t emerge from it. So Mezzo got onto his couch and before he could even get out of his clothes, he was asleep.

Six hours later, Mezzo Piano got up, feeling even more tired than before. It was almost eight, meaning he had time to get ready for another day at school. He looked at his surroundings and noticed a note lying on the coffee table. It was a page from Rarity’s blue notebook. Written in elegant cursive, it said:

‘Dear Mezzo Piano,
Words could not express how sorry I am for how I behaved last night. I feel absolutely ridiculous for it. My feelings and emotions as of late are affecting my very way of life, this hasn’t anything to do with you as a person, but I can’t bring myself to spend all my time with you, for personal reasons. I have gone on a journey to “find myself” as it were, so I may not be coming into school these next few days. I will be back for Friday to play with you all, still. Don’t worry, I will also be looking for some money to help out with Sunset’s predicament, and I suggest you do too, as should all of us. Don’t bother ringing or texting me, as my cell phone is turned off.
I am really sorry Mezzo for this and myself in general. Look after Sweetie Belle and make sure that she is fed.
Until we meet again,
Rarity X’

Mezzo was in a complete state of shock, what has he done to cause this? There is only one person who could help him out in a situation like this.

‘PINKIMENA DIANE PIE!!’ Mezzo screamed as he sat down in math class next to his best friend.

‘I know that Rarity’s ditched us because she likes you and you like Sunset.’ She answered nonchalantly.

‘Pinkie Sense?’

‘Pinkie Sense.’

‘Well what are we supposed to do? Look for her?’ Mezzo said in a tone that was a mix of anger and fear.

‘No Mezzo. She’s an adult, and you have no idea where she’s gone. If Rarity says she’ll be back for Friday, she’ll be back for Friday. If you go and look for her you’ll be wasting your time.’ Pinkie seemed deadly serious and assertive about this, unlike the pink haired, fun-loving self she usually is.

‘You can’t be serious can you? She’s your friend, aren’t you worried about her?’ Mezzo’s voice started to quiver in angst.

Pinkie Pie looked into the eyes of Mezzo Piano with a hint of sadness and worry, her voice complimented this.

‘As much as this is not your fault, Mezzo, she’s hurt and not able to carry on in the state she is, and that means we have to band together to save Sunset from the situation she’s in.’

Mezzo felt awful, worse than awful. He felt like he had been hit with a baseball bat a hundred times over, but he knew that Pinkie was right.

‘What should we do then?’ He asked with a slither of hope.

‘The Rainbooms are going to have a meeting after school, 6 o’clock, at Sugar Cube Corner. We’ll talk then.’

‘I’ll be there.’

‘Now,’ Pinkie’s voice and face sprung up to its usual, chipper demeanour ‘Cheer up, don’t be such a frowny pants!’

Mezzo forced a side-smile in remark to his Best Friends advice.

At 4:06 pm, just after school had ended in Canterlot High, Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Mezzo Piano sat at a giant circular table in that order. They were sat having their own conversations with each other:

‘Man, it just felt like yesterday when we got Milkshakes from this place.’ Pinkie said nostalgically.

‘Erm, that’s because we did.’ Mezzo replied.

‘Really? It didn’t even feel like two chapters ago…’

‘What are you on about?’

‘Nothing,’ Pinkie gave a smile then spoke up. ‘Can I speak for a minute?!’

There was a silence across the table. All eyes were on the pink haired girl in the baggy blue hoodie and purple beanie hat.

‘As you all know, Rarity has taken… erm… a departure from us for the next few days.’

‘Can I ask why?’ Rainbow Dash spoke in such a sharp tone Mezzo could almost feel it cut him when she looked straight at him.

‘It’s personal. She’ll be back before the performance, and that’s what matters.’

‘Yeah, but how do you know that, Pinkie?’ Rainbow’s cockiness was beginning to shine through.

‘Well she said in the letter she left this mo-’

‘Yeah, but how do YOU know? For all WE know, she could’ve fucked off back to Baltimare with her parents, and she ain’t coming back.’

Sunset slammed her fists on the table. ‘Listen, Dash, you’re not helping. What’s happened has happened and we need to adjust to it.’

Rainbow Dash gave a look of spite to Sunset. Things were beginning to get very heated and Mezzo could sense it.

‘What? Like how you broke Vinyl’s table and how WE have to adjust to it by paying it off for you?!’

‘That’s not a very nice thing to say.’ Fluttershy chirped up in the corner.

‘Oh shut up Fluttershy, like you make a contribution to anything.’ Something must’ve really have been shoved up Rainbow Dash’s Ass to make her act like this.

Suddenly all of the girls were yelling at each other and arguing at once, Rainbow Dash and Applejack using an onslaught of words against Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy, with only Pinkie Pie trying to keep the peace. People in the other seats in Sugar Cube Corner were starting to stare and it made Mezzo paranoid. Something had to be done.

‘QUIET!’ The Pianist shouted at the quarrelling girls. ‘Is this REALLY the way to go about things? I thought you were all friends.’

Mezzo stood up and took a deep breath.

‘You guys probably know that Rarity has gone because of me. It’s entirely my fault. So if you really wanted to start an argument with anyone, here’s your target.’ He said mournfully whilst pointing at himself.

‘Now now, sugarcube,’ Applejack tenderly replied. ‘It’s not your fault, you may be well the “cause” of this but that doesn’t make it your fault. D’ya get me, y’all?’

There was a chorus of ‘yeah’s and ‘I do’s from the girls, which made Mezzo smile genuinely, which was a first for today.

‘Now, my fellow bitches, we’re gonna do our best to avenge Rarity this Friday!’ Pinkie gave a look of a lunatic as she spoke.
‘You’re saying it like she’s dead…’ Sunset muttered.

‘Ooops, sorry.’ She apologised, following with a little squee.

‘Pinkie’s right guys,’ Rainbow Dash looked up and around the table. ‘Our biggest problem is getting a hold of that money.’

‘That plan you and Rarity said yesterday wasn’t bad.’ Applejack added. ‘It’s just that it needs something else, you can’t just hope that A: That stadium will be packed out on Friday, and B: Our jobs are going to add onto anything considering we don’t work a whole lot.’

‘Pinkie has a suggestion!’ Pinkie shot her hand up into the air as she referred to herself in the third person. ‘Can we rob a bank?’

‘HELL YEAH!’ Rainbow Dash cheered.

‘Really?’ Sunset looked at Pinkie as if she wasn’t even taking the matter at hand seriously.

‘What?! It’s a lot better than anything you guys suggested!’ Pinkie stuck out her bottom lip like an annoyed toddler.

‘What if we did a fundraiser on the Friday before the concert?’ Fluttershy whispered, despite this, all of the other five people could hear what she said.

‘Oooooh, not bad,’ Mezzo said, ‘But what about?’

Sunset felt a spark come into her head. ‘What about we do what we can do best?’

‘Ponying up and defeating creatures sent from another world?’ Rainbow asked with an edge of excitement in her delivery. To which Sunset stared at her blankly.

‘Well I was going to suggest our talents,’ Sunset motivationally spoke up. ‘So Rainbow, you organise a sporting event that people can come and watch.’

‘Time for the Rainbow to shine.’ She said with a cocky smile.

‘Applejack, you and your family prepare some snacks to sell.’

‘Aye aye, captain!’ AJ saluted to Sunset.

‘Fluttershy, bring down some of your animals from the shelter and have a petting corner.’

‘Yay.’

‘Pinkie-’ Sunset turned to see that the pink haired girl and Mezzo had taken off. Pinkie had written on a napkin very scruffily:

‘Don’t ya worry! I’ll make the location look nice and Mezzo will provide live music! Gone to the craft store brb ;)’

‘Oooooh I’m gonna get so much bunting! Did you know that bunting makes everything stand out?’ Pinkie said to Mezzo, walking down the almost barren early evening streets of Canterlot.

‘Really, I did not know that.’ The Pianist replied back monotonously.

‘Well now you did!’ Pinkie squealed.

Mezzo didn’t reply.

‘C’mon, Grumpy Pants, we’re having some best friend bonding time. And when you have best friend bonding time with Pinkie, it’s only the second best kind of bondage!’

Mezzo couldn’t help but laugh at that.

‘Fucks sake, Pinkie.’ He said, still chuckling.

‘Well you know me. OOOH here we are!’ She stopped Mezzo dead in his tracks as they pointed at the sign.

‘Glitz and Glamour Arts and crafts are the best in Canterlot, recommended by the best party planner!’ Pinkie gave a big toothed smile.

‘Well let’s go in.’ Mezzo suggested.

The small shop was overstocked on many different craft items, from fabrics to card and confetti, this place had it all. Pinkie grabbed a basket and began to fill it to the brim with many different colours of paper and party items.

‘I’ve gotta get some confetti, to restock my party cannon!’ Pinkie skipped down the aisle to where they stocked the confetti in giant tubs, she grabbed about three of those tubs and placed it in her already overfilled basket.

‘Pinkie, do you actually have the money for all of this?’ Mezzo asked in a surprised manner.

‘Pfffft, yeah! My parents, whilst against my “partying lifestyle”,’ She said using her two fingers to exaggerate. ‘They still give me an allowance.’

‘Ah right, and how much is that?’ Mezzo was now interested in what money Pinkie could offer to the group.

‘It’s a secret, silly!’ Pinkie laughed, Mezzo’s attempts were always futile when it came to Pinkie Pie.

The Pink-haired girl skipped down the aisle until she bumped into a recognisable face.

‘Oh sorry, Vinyl.’ Pinkie was ready to back away from the girl.

‘It’s alright Pinkie,’ She replied, giving a small grin. ‘C’mon ‘Tavi, which one of these fabrics did you want again?’

Appearing to the side of her was Vinyl’s girlfriend, Octavia. Her face of disgust did not rub off well on Mezzo and Pinkie.

‘One of the tartan colours will do just fine, dear,’ She spoke in a proper manner, indicating some kind of upper-class upbringing compared to most in Canterlot.

‘Hang on a second,’ Octavia paced further towards Mezzo, causing him to cower ever so slightly. ‘Mezzo Piano, is that you?’
Then the moment of realisation hit Mezzo like a freight train.

He knew this girl all too well. Rarity had mentioned her name before in conversation, but it only took a glimpse of her ash-grey hair and suit to distinguish who this girl actually was.

‘Octaviaaaaaa,’ He forced a fake laugh through gritted teeth. ‘Fancy seeing you here!’

‘Well, I knew I had seen a familiar face walking through the corridors of Canterlot High, but I didn’t think it was you.’ Octavia replied rather smugly.

‘Wait, you know Mezzo?’ Vinyl took off her glasses as she asked in shock.

‘We were in the same classical orchestra as part of the Manehattan Music Festival a couple of years ago,’ Octavia told her girlfriend. ‘The little guy was so nervous but he actually played like a pro on the stage. The audience loved him.’

‘Oh yeah, I remember that,’ Mezzo turned to Pinkie, whose jaw was dropping so low it almost looked disconnected. ‘I still don’t exactly like performing to crowds, but you know.’

‘Well you should keep at it, you know, building up courage and all that, you’re definitely a lot better than you realise,’ Octavia let out a small chuckle before starting to walk away. ‘I’m going to pay for this fabric, it was nice seeing you again, Mezzo Piano.’

‘And it was nice seeing you too.’ Mezzo nodded in agreement.

‘Vinyl, are you coming?’

‘I’ll catch up in a minute, babe,’ The Disc Jockey replied rather casually, waiting for her to walk off before starting up again.

‘Look, guys, I have a little errand for you to run.’ Vinyl spoke in a hush voice, removing her glasses and placing them on her head.

‘Why would we be helping you out? You big meanie!’ Pinkie Pie crossed her arms and gave a look of scorn.

‘It can cut about 5 large from what Sunset has to pay me, but only if she helps you out.’ Vinyl crossed her arms and gave a slightly too smug grin.

Mezzo and Pinkie were shocked. Five thousand bits paid off practically by Vinyl herself! How couldn’t they pass this up?

‘What is this “errand” then?’ Mezzo raised an eyebrow as he asked meticulously.

‘I don’t want to come across as “that girl”,’ Vinyl awkwardly moved as she struggled to speak. ‘But I promised a few guys a couple of bags of the green stuff.’

‘What? Celery?’ Pinkie asked in confusion. Mezzo looked at her in a patronising demeanour.

‘No, cotton head! Weed!’ Vinyl said in a hushed voice, but gave a look of discomfort and annoyance.

‘Ohhhhhhhhhhh,’ Pinkie realised. ‘I get you now. You want us to-’

‘Yeah, deliver it for me. It’s a pretty big shipment since it’s coming from Las Pegasus. You’re gonna need a driver to transport it and maybe something you can attack someone with if it gets messy.’

‘Jeez,’ Mezzo was startled. ‘I didn’t think it would be that manic.’

‘Well I’d do it myself, but Octavia would kill me if she knew and she’s staying my place for a couple of days,’ Vinyl Scratch slipped her glasses back on as she talked. ‘They’re usually pretty sound people, but if you spark them off it won’t be pretty for anyone,’

‘All three of you meet me at my place for 5 o’clock tomorrow night, we can discuss this further.’

Suddenly, Octavia appeared behind Vinyl, with a small grin on her face.

‘Are we ready to go?’ She asked politely.

‘Yeah of course,’ Vinyl held her lover's hand as she started to walk out.

‘See you again, Mezzo, Pinkie.’ She nodded to them both, and they nodded back.
As the small bell rang when the door opened, Pinkie Pie went into hysterics.

‘What the FUCK are we supposed to do Mezzo?!’ She screamed, her hair drooped ever so slightly, and she almost began to foam at the mouth out of desperation.

‘Well I say we do it,’ Mezzo replied reluctantly. ‘Anything that helps us get Sunset out of this rut is good, wouldn’t you say?’

‘You’re only saying that because you want to bone her!’ Pinkie yelped, causing many of the customers in the Craft shop to stare at the argument that was beginning to brew.

‘That is besides the point!’ Mezzo matched his volume with his best friend, to which Pinkie grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him outside of the store, leaving whatever craft items they intended on purchasing in there.

Pinkie stopped dragging him after she had dragged him halfway down the street, with a scowl crossing her face, which is unlike her.

‘Look, Mezzo,’ Pinkie rolled her eyes, and pushed her droopy hair out of her eyes. ‘I get that you want to be the “White Knight” here, but this is too risky. And that’s coming from me, the one who snorts some weird shit into her system once a month out of sheer boredom in the middle of a club!’

‘You’re seriously turning down an offer to help pay off 5 thousand of this stupid debt,’ Mezzo said in disbelief. ‘Chances are this will be considerably simple. Yeah it’s illegal, but I highly doubt we’re gonna go down for it.’

‘Hmmm, I guess you’re right. But we don’t tell anyone else we’re doing this,’ Pinkie help out her little finger, indicating she wanted to make a promise. ‘We say that your parents paid you the money or something, they’re rich enough as it is.’

After sighing, Mezzo agreed to the promise.

‘We need to tell Sunset though, because we can’t do this without her, Vinyl said so.’ Mezzo Piano added on, tugging on the collar of his trenchcoat as the cool evening air began to creep in.

‘Yeah,’ Pinkie Pie pulled out her phone and dialled up Sunset’s number.

‘Hiiiii Sunset… It’s me, Pinkie… Look, can you meet us outside the Crafts shop, like now? Okay cool, see you in a minute, love you too, bye.’

‘Ay well, at least this will be something to cross off the best friend bucket list.’ Mezzo chuckled, trying to alleviate some of the uncomfortable air.

Pinkie Pie gave a light-hearted giggle at that statement.

‘You’re funny, you know that, MP?’

‘Good one, Pinkie.’

‘No no, I mean it,’ The pink haired girl looked to her best friend with admiration. ‘As much as all this weird shit has gone down whilst you’ve been here, I’m glad you’ve come back home.’

‘It’s good to be home,’ Mezzo replied, looking back her and placing an arm around her shoulder. ‘Even if I caused one of your friends to run away, which, yenno, I am sorry about.’

‘She’s gonna be fine, MP, you know she needs it, anyway,’ Pinkie Pie sighed. ‘Rarity’s prone to being like that sometimes, and you just need to give her space.’

‘Yeah, I understand.’ Mezzo said with a hint of reassurance.

It wasn’t much longer until Sunset arrived, her teeth chattering due to the now low temperatures settling into the atmosphere.

‘What do you want? It’s freezing out here and my apartment is a half hour walk away so this better be important.’ Sunset said through small stammers of her teeth clanging together.

‘Yeah, thing is,’ Mezzo began rather awkwardly. ‘We have good news and bad news. The good news is that Vinyl will settle the debt down to about 10 thousand bits for us.’

‘Wait, seriously?!’ Sunset said in a shock of both surprise and relief.

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought!’ Pinkie said in a similar tone of voice.

‘Bad news however,’ Mezzo Piano cringed as he muttered. ‘Us three have to deal a package of drugs for her tomorrow evening…’

‘Oh for fucks sake, I knew there was a stupid catch!’ Sunset’s expression dropped to a face of frustration in a single instant.

‘Yeah I know, it’s a pain in the ass, but we gotta do it.’ Pinkie said in a dissapointed fashion.

‘What do you mean? What a hypocritical thing to do, press charges against someone for breaking some DJ equipment when she owns a fucking drug ring,’ Sunset spat her words of hate. ‘I get it, and I’m gonna do it so that it’s easier for the rest of us and I kind of deserve it, but it’s just lousy, you know.’

‘We get you, Sunset, it is shitty,’ Mezzo comforted his crush. ‘We need a driver too to transport the weed.’

‘Flash Sentry is the only guy I know who drives and would probably be willing to do it,’ Pinkie stroked her chin as she thought out loud. ‘Do you think he would do it though?’

‘Well, I could always ask him tomorrow, I’m sure he won’t mind, at least I don’t think.’ Sunset Shimmer said with reluctance.

‘Meet me at Rarity’s house tomorrow after school, and bring Flash if you can.’ Mezzo Piano told the two girls, who nodded in agreement.

‘I’m gonna feel sick after doing this.’ Sunset held onto her stomach.

‘Come on, Sunset,’ Pinkie said in a somewhat chipper mood. ‘We’ve all done things that we’re not proud of.’

‘Good one.’ Sunset’s response dripped in sarcasm.

It had been a long day for Mezzo, and things were about to get a whole lot worse.

He walked in, took off his coat and shoes, and stepped into the kitchen, where he saw the furious frown of none other than Sweetie Belle.

Fuck, I knew I’d forgotten to do something, he thought.

‘I made myself my own food, considering you weren’t here.’ The young girl scolded, as she took a bite of a hastily made ham and cheese sandwich she had attempted to make.

‘I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, I should’ve made you something.’ Mezzo sighed out of sympathy and sheer exhaust.

‘I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!’ Sweetie Belle screamed at the top of her lungs. ‘You’ve ruined my life! Rarity’s ran away because of you, and you don’t even care!’

‘Of course I care!’ Mezzo said in defense, but still kept up the sympathetic side. ‘I hate myself because what I’ve done to her, what I’ve done to both of you. I’m sorry I truly am.’

‘No!! You don’t get it! I HATE YOU!!’ The icy, shrill words that Sweetie spoke were enough to pierce Mezzo. She ran away into her room and slammed the door as hard as she could.

Sweetie Belle’s horrific cries filled the otherwise empty house.

But all Mezzo could do was stand there, taken aback by the harsh words that were screamed to him.

At that moment, a single tear dropped from his eye, and he watched as it hit the carpet in front of his feet, leaving a small dark spot in front of him.

For a solid few hours, that was it. Just the sounds of violent cries from upstairs, that didn’t die down until much later on, when it seemed that Sweetie Belle had fallen asleep.

Mezzo lay, curled up onto his couch, unable to sleep.

It was only at this moment that he’d realised the true calibre of what had happened.

He was the one who made Rarity run away, and whilst Applejack had said it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t help but admit that it entirely was his fault. She ran away because of him, he broke her heart. All the things she had done for him and he ended up crippling her so much that she had to leave everything and just go for a walk to who knows where.

Maybe, Mezzo thought, that’s the right thing to do.

Mezzo got up, put on his coat and shoes, and picked up his duffel bag, before exiting through the front door, locking it, and posting the key.

From then, he began to walk, he didn’t know where he was going to end up.

But he just needed a walk, that was all.

Author's Note

Yikes, it's been a while.

Looking through an old draft of this chapter I wrote up about a year ago, I couldn't help but complete it and post it.
I may return to this series if I have the proper time, but seeing as I'm off to university in a couple of weeks, I'm not sure when I will start consistently uploading chapters again.

However, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it helped me through a mental block I was having with this story, and I do like the direction I'm beginning to take with it.

Who knows, I may return to this story and complete it once and for all.

Until we meet again,
TheOldRedHills